Is your Child Eating too much of Junk? Find how to Get Rid of this Problem

It is very important to teach your children the importance of eating healthy and staying healthy. Your kids must establish a good relationship with food from as early as possible and it is you who is required to play a very important role in this. These days, most children and adults around the world consume a lot of fast food or junk food and this is leading to obesity in a big way.

While having such food items on special occasions is not wrong, but developing a habit or having junk items more than twice a week can be dangerous. But how does one avoid children from eating junk? Let’s find out.

Make Healthy Snacks Accessible and Handy

One of the best ways to avoid junk food for children and replace it with healthy food is to keep several healthy snacks handy. Fruits, vegetables, whole grain crackers, etc. are amazing healthy snacking ideas and they must be kept easily accessible. Keep a bowl of fruits on a lower shelf and make sure it is always full with fresh and healthy fruits. Kids are more likely to eat such foods when they can see them.

Don’t have Junk Food at Home

Make it a rule to keep all kinds of junk food items like pizzas, burgers, fries etc. out of the home. If you may just make special occasions like birthdays an exception. This will put your child into the habit of avoiding such foods and rather they opt for healthy items. Don’t order junk from restaurants and avoid cooking them at home as well.

Don’t Completely Avoid Junk Food

If you completely ban junk food, your kids will only get more curious about it and may want to have it even more. Allow junk on a few occasions or once in two weeks so that kids learn to have it in moderation and are not completely denied. Anything which is banned gets more attractive to kids and thus allow small amounts every once in a while.

Create Tasty and Healthy Alternatives at Home

If you wish, you can create healthy alternatives to junk items like pizzas etc. at home. Instead of using a pizza base, you can create a pizza on brown or multi grain bread at home. Instead of adding harmful sauces, you can create your own sauce or dip at home and add many healthy vegetables as topping. Similarly, you can also make other healthy items and teach kids the importance of eating right.

Set an Example

If you stop your kids from eating junk but yourself are fond of it and eat it in front of kids, then you are not setting a very good example. If you wish to avoid kids from eating junk, then you yourself must show restraint and avoid eating it. Rather indulge in eating a lot of fruits, vegetables etc. so that your kids too inculcate the same habits.